1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and an image forming method, in particular, using a laminate technique.
2. Description of Related Art
As one of image forming apparatuses, a sublimation type thermal transfer printer is known in which color inks of yellow, magenta, and cyan are made to sublimate by heat of a thermal head to form a color image on a recording medium. On the other hand, laminate techniques are known in which the surface of a recording medium on which an image has been formed is coated with a transparent film in order to protect the image formed on the recording medium against moisture and oil to keep the quality of the image for a long time. Such techniques are categorized into gloss finish in which a transparent film is transferred to the whole surface in an even pattern; and matte finish in which a transparent film is transferred to the whole surface in an uneven pattern. For example, Japanese Patent No. 3861293 discloses a technique concerning matte finish.
In Japanese Patent No. 3861293, uneven pattern data for the transparent film is sent from a host computer to a printer, and stored in a laminate memory provided in the printer. The pattern data to be stored in the laminate memory is not for the whole surface of the recording medium but partial data. The pattern based on the partial data is repeated in a sub scanning direction to form an uneven pattern on the whole surface.